2 MID-LIFE CYCLISTS IN A MOTORHOME: September 2014

1st September 2014. Today started foggy with the peaks of the mountains obscured from view.

Far bank of the Mosel lined with vineyards

We decided we would cycle to Bernkastel Kues and set off before the sun had chance to melt the fog away. The route mainly followed the path of the river but occasionally steered us through a vineyard or a local village, twisting and turning through side streets before returning to the river. It was a very pleasant ride through some stunning scenery with little change in the gradient making it a very easy ride. The sun didn't take long to burn away the fog and we soon had to stop to remove our jackets.

Bernkastel Kues

Bernkastel Kues was an unexpected delight with some very pretty half-timbered buildings and lots of flowers decorating the town. After exploring the town we stopped at a café that had the most appealing range of cakes you could imagine. We both selected a suitably calorific piece of gateau, Glynn opting for Black Forest while I opted for a raspberry cream concoction. After sating our hunger we set off again, heading for the other side of the river. We decided to put some effort in to the return journey with the aim of getting back in an hour. We followed the river for a short way before the route took us back on the other bank and we stepped up the pace realising it was going to be tight to make it back in an hour. We got back to the village in exactly 60 minutes but Glynn said it didn't count as it took us a further 2 minutes to reach the Aire. We had cycled 52kms which meant we were only 203kms short of our target. An afternoon of sunbathing and reading was on the agenda!!

3rd September 2014. Yesterday we spent the day relaxing before moving on again and ended up driving through Trier in rush hour after a detour took us almost in to the centre of town.

Fog slowly rising above the vineyards

We decided it didn't appeal to us to cycle in to the town and instead opted to head in to Luxembourg this morning, a day or two ahead of schedule. After taking advantage of the incredibly cheap fuel (€1.18 per ltr) and brandy (€7.99 per ltr) at a garage just inside the border we found a lovely campsite on the edge of Luxembourg City and spent the rest of the morning sitting out enjoying the sun.

Grand Ducal Palace, Luxembourg

After lunch we cycled in to the City which was only 10kms following the cycle path, an easy ride until we reached the City which is set on top of a very steep hill. After exploring the city centre, some of it on foot as the gradients were too steep for us, we decided to head back via the road (mainly because we couldn't remember where the cycle route was). After a healthy 22kms we arrived back and were soon chilling in the loungers enjoying the last of the day's sun.

5th September 2014. Today we headed in to Belgium and stopped at a lovely little village called Han-sur-Lesse. We cycled to Rochefort via the road which was incredibly hilly and felt a bit dangerous with huge logging trucks flying past a bit too close for comfort. We decided to head back via an old train line which was now tarmaced and a designated cycle path. Just like our first day in Germany the signs left a bit to be desired and we ended up way past our town before we eventually found our way back on to the road. The last few kilometres were tough, not helped by a detour I took to get us off the main road which turned into a gravel path with lots of loose stones. I was cycling way too fast on a steep downhill when my front wheel hit a ditch and I nearly went flying.

oh good, a game of football!!

I managed to regain control luckily but it was a scary moment and I wisely decided to ride a bit slower on the downhills. In spite of the fact it had only been 8kms to Rochefort we ended up cycling 32kms by the time we found our way back. Definitely time for a well deserved glass of wine! Glynn was delighted to discover a local football match taking place on a pitch behind the Aire so he spent an enjoyable hour or so watching the game.

6th September 2014. Today we decided to head back to France. Belgian motorways are the worst I have ever come across. The road surface was so poor that Herman shook like he was having a fit. The crockery and cutlery were bouncing up and down like a Mexican wave and I fully expected to find all the cutlery in the wrong trays when we reached our destination.

Arc de Triomphe

It was a relief to get back to France, not least because I hadn't been able to pick up a FON network in Belgium so we'd not had any wifi and I was keen to check out a campsite that did coach trips to Paris. I hadn't planned on visiting Paris but suddenly decided it might be nice as we would be able to enjoy the city without having to drive anywhere near it in Herman. We stopped at a lovely little town called Bertry which was in the middle of a fun run event. Crowds of people lined the streets cheering the runners on.

La Madeleine

It was the first time I had seen a town where the entire centre was wired for sound with speakers up high on every lamp post. Accordion music and French singers could be heard all over the town centre so there was no escaping it! It wasn't so bad for me as I used to play in an accordion band when I was a teenager so I like the sound but poor Glynn looked less than impressed at the choice of music. I must admit that after trying several French radio stations on this trip we have given up and been listening to my IPod when we are travelling as the music is not to our taste.

Paris Opera

We headed back and as I was able to pick up a good FON network from the Aire we sent messages to family and friends before playing Rummikub. Glynn put up a valiant battle but I eventually won 2-1 taking the total to 19-7.

8th September 2014. Yesterday we drove to Berny-Rivière where there is a very large campsite with indoor and outdoor pools, 3 lakes for fishing and various other amenities to keep you amused. We were here purely for the convenience of the coach trip to Paris which was €21 each and so it was to the sound of my alarm clock that we got up at 6.45am to make sure we got on the coach on time.

Notre Dame

After a 90 minute journey we were dropped off near the Arc de Triomphe, free to explore until the return trip at 6.45pm. We wandered up the Champs Elysées and stopped for coffee while we planned where to go. We decided to get a hop on/hop off bus for €29 each (a bit expensive I thought but well worth it!!) and stay on it for the full circuit before then deciding which stops we wanted to explore further. We were lucky to get the back seats on the top floor of the open topped bus which gave us unrestricted views of the monuments as we drove past. The complete circuit took two and half hours and it was incredible.

Guess where we are!!

I don't know why I had never thought to visit Paris before but for me it was on a par with Rome and Florence, two of my favourite cities. My camera barely got time to rest there was so much to photograph. After completing the circuit we stayed on the bus until it reached Trocadero again. We sat by the fountains looking across at the Eiffel Tower while we ate our packed lunch and then wandered across the bridge to get a closer look. The weather was glorious and after admiring the

Stunning mural on the Grand Palais

Tower we went for a stroll along the Seine before heading back to the Champs Elysées to look at some of the shops and visit the Arc de Triomphe. It had been a fantastic day, one of the highlights of the trip, and all too soon it was time to head back to the coach.

9th September 2014. This morning we drove to Beauvais as we are now working our way towards the Normandy coast to start heading towards Calais and home in 10 days.

Well that was a lot quicker than usual!!

We did a short ride of 7kms exploring the area and Glynn noticed his front tyre was a bit low on pressure. A tell-tale green blob of gel showed that he'd had another puncture but the new inner tube had sealed itself and Glynn was delighted that all he had to do was pump it up rather than patch the tube. After dinner we played Rummikub and much to Glynn's delight he beat me 3-0 making the score 19-10. Annoyingly he has pinched my trick of holding back from laying all his sets too soon making it harder to get out.

10th September 2014. This morning we drove to La Mailleraye sur Seine and the Aire was right on the bank of the river with fantastic views.

The Abbey at Jumiéges

After lunch we cycled along the river edge to Heurteaville where there was a free ferry to the other side of the river. We took the ferry which took less than 5 minutes and headed off to see the ruins of the old Abbey at Jumiéges. We stopped for a beer in the town and an old guy started chatting non stop to us. We eventually got chance to explain we didn't understand much French and after acknowledging what we'd said he carried on, albeit at a slightly slower speed. The gist of the conversation was that he'd had cataracts and hadn't been able to see for a very long time but had now been operated on, he'd lost a lot of weight and he had 3 dogs although I couldn't swear to that being the correct translation. He finished his beer, jumped on his moped and weaved his way up the road. I am unsure whether this was because of the beer or impaired vision!!

11th September 2014. Bad hair day!! Having gone so long without a trim my hair is a disaster at the back because it is normally cut short and has grown so much it has lost its shape. I have been trying to hang on until I get home but I decided to bite the bullet and see what the local hairdresser could do. After all I was going to have to start using them unless I planned on flying my hairdresser out to wherever we are every 6 weeks!!

Lovely Aire beside the Seine

The lady spoke no English so a customer who spoke a little bit of English helped translate. Have you ever tried explaining in sign language that you don't need the whole wash and blow dry package because once she has cut my hair it will not curl properly until I go home and wash it again as using a brush or comb makes my fair frizzy. It was like a game of charades!! I then tried to explain that my hair is much longer when wet and she was not to take more than a millimetre or two off my fringe or it would spring up when dry exposing my forehead. Trust me when I say that it is not a good look on me when my fringe is halfway up my forehead.

Traffic on the river!

I gathered the interpretation was going well until I realised they thought I wanted the hairdresser to come to the Motorhome to cut my hair. How on earth they came to that conclusion I don't know. At this point I should have backed out the door and made my excuses but unfortunately I didn't, a decision I later came to regret! It was obvious that things had got lost in translation when the first thing she did was wash my hair. The trim took an hour as she stopped halfway through washing it when a couple came in to have a chat, she then had to stop twice while cutting my hair to answer the phone and take bookings and finally a couple came in with a box of dresses for sale so she stopped to look through them, holding them up against herself and looking in the mirror.

Glynn loving the donkeys along the cycle path

I suppose I should be grateful it wasn't near lunch time as I wouldn't have been surprised if she had left me there half trimmed and gone off on a 2 hour lunch break that seems to be the norm in France. When she held up a heated curling brush and indicated she'd like her to use it I quickly declined so she dried my hair with a hairdryer. I suppose I should be grateful for small mercies as at least my fringe wasn't too short but that is where my gratitude ends!! She had trimmed the back of my hair but carried on too far round cutting off a lot of the longer hair from the sides so I felt like I was left with 2 little strips of hair at the sides. Telling a hairdresser you do not like what they have done is incredibly hard but even more so with the language barrier so I did what most of us probably do and smiled, saying "trés bon". I paid the €26.50 fee (no tip) and made a sharp exit. I hurried back to Herman so I could wash my frizzy hair to see what I could do with it. When I had done it Glynn said it looked nice but bless him he always thinks I look nice. There is only one thing for it, Glynn will have to learn how to trim the back of my hair as that's the only bit that needs to be done regularly!! I can't print his answer to my suggestion but suffice to say I am working on him!!

What do you mean I'm not a chicken!!

There were 3 resident chickens and a duck at the Aire. The duck appeared to have an identity crisis as while the chickens spent all day wandering from van to van hoping for scraps the duck followed behind copying everything they did. It was really funny to watch.

As if the day hasn't been exciting enough with my trip to the hairdresser Glynn decided to up the ante!! We have a nice routine, I cook and he clears up afterwards. Today he was happily washing up and had put the kettle on to make a cup of tea.

You need a new tea towel dear!!

The next thing I know there are flames shooting up from the tea towel which the daft bugger had placed next to the gas hob. Glynn reacted quickly and threw it out of the door before trying to stamp on it to put out the flames, not easy in bare feet! He had done a similar thing a few weeks ago but spotted his mistake just as the tea towel was starting to scorch, this time the tea towel was a definite write off!! In spite of my jokes in previous posts about upping the wine intake to counteract our weight loss from all the cycling we actually make a point of not drinking on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays as it would be too easy to slip in the habit of drinking every day. Rules are made to be broken and I decided that in spite of it being a Thursday it was definitely wine o'clock.

13th September 2014. Today was a special day, my son jumped out of a plane at 13,000 feet to raise money for his mate Scott who needs a heart operation.

Lisa will you marry me? yes or no

In some ways it was a relief I was not at home to see it as I'm sure it would have scared me to death. To make the day even more special Darryl had a little surprise up his sleeve which he was able to carry out with the help of his friends. When he landed he dropped on to one knee and proposed to his lovely girlfriend Lisa. His mates all had placards which read "Lisa will you marry me, yes or no" and were jumping up and down in excitement.

She said yes!!!

Luckily she said yes or that would have been pretty embarrassing!! Unbeknownst to Lisa they had snuck in our house after they had left that morning and had decorated it in the theme of Las Vegas which is where they plan on getting married. They had a wonderful Vegas themed party that evening to celebrate. Guess I had better start looking for a hat!!

16th September 2014. 2000kms!!! We have spent the last few days gradually working our way along the Normandy coast, stopping overnight at Fecamp, Veulettes sur Mer, Dieppe and Le Tréport. The weather has been fantastic and we have had some lovely cycle rides along the coast roads. The coastline is mainly cliffs and each town sits low, nestled at the base of the cliff edge which means a steep drop in to the towns and a tough climb out the other side. Glynn has had 2 further punctures, the only sign being the tell tale blob of green gel where the hole has sealed itself. He is delighted that all he had to do is check his tyre pressure rather than repairing inner tubes. We were just 35kms short of reaching 2000kms so we cycled in to town and cheated slightly by taking the Funicular up to the cliff edge.

Spectacular view from the top

We had discovered the Funicular the day before, it's free of charge and takes you up through the cliff face to the top where there are spectacular views looking down on the harbour. We got off at the top and headed along the coast road. It was a tough ride with lots of steep hills that really tested my lungs. You would think that after cycling nearly 2000kms I would be fit but my lungs felt like I had just smoked 20 cigarettes every time we climbed a steep hill. I was determined not to get off and push and to be fair I think it would have been just as hard to do that as it was to cycle up them. We dropped down at high speed into the beautiful coastal towns and climbed slowly out the other side. When we got back I checked my Garmin and our total was 1998kms. After lunch we cycled back in to town to pick up a wifi network so I could check my emails. We left our bikes at the seafront and did some window shopping before climbing up to the higher part of town. I picked up a FON network so we sat on some steps while I checked for messages. Glynn suddenly jumped up and was rubbing his head. "I think a bird has just shit on my head" he said. Trying not to laugh too loudly I confirmed that there was a tell-tale line of bird shit down his back so he had guessed correctly. We walked back to get the bikes, me chuckling to myself and Glynn with an indignant look on his face! When we got back to the Aire we had totalled 2002kms. We were both chuffed to bits and celebrated with a cuppa as it was a Tuesday so therefore an alcohol free day.

17th September 2014. Today we drove to a lovely Aire at Berck.

The seals

It was just off a huge sandy beach, a welcome change from the stony beaches of the last few towns we had visited. Glynn declared it a bike free day so after lunch we strolled down to the beach and walked out to the edge of a rocky promenade. It was a beautiful hot sunny day with a clear blue sky. The tide was out and there were several sandbanks. The sea was a gorgeous colour and I took a few photographs before I noticed the collection of large grey objects on a nearby sandbank. It was a seal colony. They lay basking in the sunshine, occasionally lifting their heads to look around before resuming their sunbathing. After admiring the seals and taking a few photos we carried on our walk along the beach and arrived back at the Aire 2 hours later.

Beautiful beach at Berck

A lot of people seemed to be heading towards the beach so after a coffee break we walked back too. As the tide was coming in a few of the seals had lost their dry resting place as it was reclaimed by the sea and they were now swimming just off the shore. Alongside lots of other spectators we watched the seals as they swam around, diving below the surface before popping their heads out of the water and looking around. It was a great way to end a fantastic day and we headed back to cook dinner and crack open a nice bottle of wine.

18th September 2014. We decided to head to Gravelines for our last 2 nights as the location was excellent for a early start to the Eurotunnel. Glynn filled up with diesel en-route and (luckily) we decided to stop at Boulogne. I commented that I could smell diesel and when I looked I realised the fuel cap was missing. "Where's the fuel cap Glynn?" "Ooops" he replied. We abandoned our plans to see Boulogne and headed back to the petrol station, thankfully it was only about 6 miles!! The fuel cap was still by the pump and we were soon heading back in the right direction, Glynn looking sheepish while I practised my best look of disdain. A quick stop at Calais for essential supplies (wine!!) and we were soon parked up at the lovely Aire at Gravelines facing the marina. We sat outside and chilled in the sun for the rest of the day.

19th September 2014. Our last day of this trip and what a great day it was. Good weather, good food, good company and good wine!! We went for a ride before lunch and when we returned we got chatting to a lovely couple, Jane and Pete, who were also travelling back to the UK the next day. After lunch we cycled to the beach, one of the biggest expanses of sand I have seen. The tide was out and we walked along the jetty for half an hour before we reached the sea. In spite of it being a lovely warm sunny day there was a fog rolling in, obscuring the sun and turning it cooler. We then decided a beer would go down nicely and headed back. We bumped in to Jane & Pete and the 4 of us headed to a bar where we enjoyed a lovely hour chatting about the places we had all been and swapping information about good Aires to stay on.

We don't often eat what I call junk food but Glynn decided he wanted to end our trip with a pizza dinner so I made some garlic bread (with more garlic than is good for you if you are expecting company later!!)and we enjoyed a lovely big pizza and lots of garlic buttered baguette. Jane and Pete had gone out to a restaurant but joined us when they got back and we enjoyed a very relaxed last evening with more information swapping and, unsurprisingly, some nice French wine. It transpired that they were going to be at Lincoln motorhome show the following weekend which is where we would be too so we arranged to meet up again.

20th September 2014. We were up bright and early as we were booked on the 9.50am train. We had been warned the check in was slower than normal because of extra security checks so we allowed plenty of time and all too soon we were back in the UK. Glynn was a bit worried he would forget to drive on the left after so long away but I reminded him every now and again to hug the kerb and we arrived home unscathed. Darryl and Lisa were having a cocktail party and had asked me to cook one of my giant paellas so our first night back was spent drinking cocktails, eating paella and having a great time catching up with all the news, not least of which was hearing about Darryl's parachute jump and subsequent proposal.

The last four and half months have been amazing. A lot of people were shocked when we first announced our plan to give up work and tour Europe in a motorhome. Everyone has been very supportive and full of encouragement, commenting on how brave they thought we were and wishing they could do it too. I must say that so far it has exceeded our expectations. I can't put in to words how incredible it feels each day exploring new areas, meeting new people and just feeling so chilled out. The cycling has been brilliant and our total distance was 2012 kms. We will spend the next 8 weeks in the UK to give us time to get Herman mot'd and serviced, apply for our Indian visas and catch up with all our family and friends. Most importantly we will be buying Glynn new tyres for his bike in the hope it will minimise the number of punctures he gets!! We will spend 3 months in Goa from 18th November to 18th February and when we return our plan is to head down to Southern Spain initially. Where we go from there who knows, it will depend on the weather mainly and what recommendations we get from fellow travellers. All we know is that it is very exciting and we have absolutely no regrets about giving up work and grabbing this opportunity. I won't write blog posts while we are in Goa as we will be just be chilling and reading mainly, as well as continuing to learn to speak French and Spanish using my Duolingo app (Google it if you don't know what it is, it's brilliant!!). I will however use the time to update the financial tab with a breakdown of what it cost us during this trip and show a price comparison of the supermarkets in France. We also plan on doing some research while we are away on places to visit so it is all very exciting. It has been really lovely to receive messages through my blog from people we have never met, some just to say how much they have enjoyed the blog whilst others have been inspired by what we are doing and are now making their own plans. It feels incredible to think that something I have written has the potential to inspire others to change their course. If you have any questions on anything we have done or plan on doing please feel free to message me through the link on the blog and I will happily answer your questions if I can.